﻿Intro to Singapore, Economy Model, Business Prospects and Business Opportunities ﻿

“I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.” ― Lee Kuan Yew Calmly, rapidly but strictly, the sharp and hard working people of Singapore worked since 1960s to dazzle the world by showing the power of right decisions, modernization, no (or negligible) corruption, hard work and education.﻿Singapore – the brightest star not only in Asian but also in global orbit ﻿

Singapore is a home to many millionaires. So what? Does the first line give a beautiful idea about the dazzling entrepreneurial power of Singapore? I know it does not. I will take the help of two “from rags to riches” stories to show you how Singapore can help anyone to be a millionaire. Whether you are Singaporean or not, these stories and much more in-depth information later will help you to see through what an investment gem this country is! Story one. As an orphan, Olivia Lum had no choice but to stay with her grandmother. That was maybe not a problem. Unfortunately, her grandmother had gambling habit. So, Olivia grew under fear, uncertainty, risk and pressure that both of them might suddenly lose food and roof anytime. But she was not a person who would let her victory got killed without a die-hard fight. She had no good option at the early stage of her life. So, she kept moving on as a tutor, promoter in department stores or even door-to-door cosmetics salesperson at different times at the early stage of her life. Surely, it was painful. But the pain helped her to save S$20,000. She decided to take a risk in water treatment business. Singapore is a great place for entrepreneurs. The country did not let her go down. The country supported her to develop a company from three employees to 20,000+ employees. She started with S$20,000 and now has 20,000+ employees. Is she the only one? Was she successful just by chance? The answer is a straight “no” and we will share more stories and reasons. Story two. When Neo Kah Kiat was a young boy, his parents were so poor that they failed to pay electricity bills on time. So, power cut-offs were unavoidable and he had to live in dark rooms at night for many days. Today we do not know how many dark nights he had silently passed. But it was not the only pain. He had to tolerate the intolerable days of the rainy and summer seasons in a feeble wooden house. But Neo, who had a sleeping Singaporean entrepreneur waiting in the heart, decided to borrow S$15,000 from friends and relatives to open his catering business. Fortunately, he never had to look back. Today his business range from wine cellar to Japanese food chain to yacht catering service and many more. Surprisingly, Singapore is a city state but currently the only Asian country to have AAA credit ratings from all three major credit rating agencies. We know from what World Bank (2012) said, Singapore has a population of 5.312 million people. So, the government has structured and developed a economy that is the most suitable for a small country. This means - though the economy is diverse across manufacturing and services, these sectors are heavily exposed to global markets. The secret to economic success is – the country is highly successful in exporting goods. Are you living in Singapore? Believe it or not, the vast majority of businesses and households are enjoying effective tax rates that are the lowest in Asia. Yes, the lowest in Asia! The government is not a “yes-man” of corporate companies or big companies like the governments in many other countries. It is very careful so that small entrepreneurs are also equally treated. In 1966, more than half of the workers had no formal education at all. But nowadays the population is not only educated and skilled but also the main factor behind its stunning success. Several decades ago, Singapore's economy started growing based on the export of labor-intensive manufactured products to the world markets. Then the intelligent leaders could understand that using advanced technologies and moving to value added services would take them to even a higher position that many countries could only day dream. Are you a supporter of “free everything”? Like it or not, the state closely directs the economic development. Some very positive Singaporean economic factors are – (a) most open in the world (b) least corrupt (c) most pro-business (d) low tax rates (e) highest per-capita GDP in the world (f) highly attractive investment climate (g) a stable political environment etc. The good news from Singapore has not finished yet. Singapore has done well on the HDI (Human Development Index), on which it is ranked 25th. When you go to Singapore, you will find that most companies are private limited-liability companies. Can you imagine its savings rates have remained among the highest in the world since the 1970s? The Central Provident Fund is used for its citizen's healthcare and retirement needs. The government promotes high level of investment and savings through this fund. When many stupid countries are making atom bombs and threatening the neighbors, the focus of Singapore is to achieve the status of a developed country and it is trying hard to achieve this. Singapore constantly reviews and updates its economic strategies. It is not as much arrogant as to buy arms, feel dangerously proud and coerce neighbors like some other countries. It has a peaceful development policy and is doing far better than most of its Asian neighbors. Unemployment rates have also been amongst the lowest in the world for many years. It is a dream of many poor Asian citizens to get an opportunity to come into Singapore to offer physical labor related services. “With 7,405 people per square kilometre, Singapore is “the most crowded society in human history” with no “pressure-release valve”, which other countries with a countryside possess. The population density is expected to increase to 10,000 people per square kilometre by 2030.” – former Attorney-General Walter Woon (15 Nov 2013,Todayonline) Unfortunately, Singapore has limited land resources but its population is ever-growing. The more population is growing, the more challenging it is becoming to improve the lifestyle of people across the country. Can you really imagine the situation? What will happen when a family is forced into living in a home though the number of family members is always growing over several generations without any access to any new home? But anyway! It is doing better than many other countries. Many countries are stunned by it success too. The point is – it has to be a developed country and ensure higher living standard for all the Singaporean citizens at the same time. The citizens of many countries will loudly cheer in joy if they can even get half the quality of average Singaporean lifestyle. Even though it owns the busiest sea port in the world, water is defined as a precious resource in Singapore as water is scarce. The nature might have forgotten the least necessary things to Singapore. It has so limited arable land that it not only relies on the agro-technology parks for agricultural production and consumption but also imports food.

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